


You held the balance of time

by gertstarlight



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: F/M, also this is based on the song You're Somebody Else by Flora Cash, i also cut out a lot of the angst, umm angst and then some fluff but its a happy ending i promise, wrote this cuz i remembered that rick drinks and feel like we need to talk abt it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gertstarlight/pseuds/gertstarlight
Summary: "Well you look like yourselfBut you're somebody elseOnly it ain't on the surfaceWell you talk like yourselfNo, I hear someone else thoughNow you're making me nervous”Beth finds Rick alone in the dark corner of Blue Valley doing something he shouldn’t be doing.warning: underage drinking
Relationships: Beth Chapel/Rick Tyler, rick tyler/beth chapel
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	You held the balance of time

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: diorsromantics  
> i talk a loooot abt hournite on there so find me there if u want

Neon lights radiated off of the Blue Valley Diner sign as Beth walked towards it. The diner fell on her path home from the hospital where she had just dropped off her mom’s weekly late night dinner. She was giggling along to the automated voice that rang to her ears from her AI goggles. Chuck was giving her a rundown of the early 20’s party scene where she was virtually trying on some sweet outfits. The security alert on her goggles interrupted their late night historical window shopping and brought Beth to a halt. Since Chuck wasn’t able to identify an actual threat, he gave her the all clear to keep walking. 

The identifiable threat trips Chuck’s security system again, “I’m sorry Beth but my server can’t identify this specific noise. I still advise you to proceed with caution.” Beth hums a tune of affirmation and continues walking. 

Walking past the diner, she hears the crinkle of a paper bag, maybe Chuck did hear something. She slowly whispers to Chuck, “does the noise sound like a paper bag to you too?”

“Let me run that sound sample through my database.”

Beth waits a few seconds for her goggles to figure out what the noise could be. She slowly walks back to the side of the diner and sees a tall figure moving around. 

“Chuck can you see who that is?”

“Hold on, I have the heat sensor on to identify the unknown creature.”

“What kind of unknown creature could be lurking in a dark alley beside the diner?” she questions playfully and soon realizes the seriousness of the situation.

“Beth, I am sensing the figure isn’t a threatening creature. It’s Rick Tyler, holding some sort of bottle,” Chuck’s statement was phrased more like a question since it wouldn’t make sense for Rick to be out this late.

“I wonder what Rick is doing out here, it’s almost 11:45.” she said, sliding the goggles onto her head. 

Walking into the dimly lit alleyway, she sees Rick’s face a little more clearly. The boy is sipping from something covered by the paper bag she heard from the sidewalk. It takes Beth a few seconds to see what’s really happening. 

The wildly unbalanced boy looks up at her after wiping his sleeve across his mouth. He doesn’t really say anything, just looks at her like a deer caught by the headlights of an unexpected driver. The sight of Rick in this disheveled manner shakes her heart a little. 

“Rick, put that down, you’re making me nervous,” Beth had her hands in front of her, slowly walking in his direction. She tried to reach out to him and bring him down from whatever deplorable headspace he locked himself away in.

He stood at the edge of the alleyway in the pitch black darkness, nervous strokes ran through his tone, “for fucks sake Beth, LEAVE ME ALONE!” Beth winced at the jarring loudness in his voice only to realize something. He looked like himself. He talked like himself. But when he said those words, she couldn’t hear the same Rick Tyler he was merely 12 hours ago. 

“This isn’t you, Rick! You know better,” she insisted as her face flinched at the sight of his face in the dim lit alley. Beth had given up on the niceties and a sudden fear flowed into her voice as she made another attempt to take away that bottle.

“Rick, drop the bottle. You’re not going to find a solution in the last drop of alcohol, be rational.”

“SCREW RATIONAL. THIS IS WHO I AM AND IT’S WHO I’VE ALWAYS BEEN,” he waves his hand around to emphasize whatever point he thought he was making.

“No it’s not, just put it down and we can talk.” She was never one to standby and watch someone get hurt. So she slowed her pace and took smaller steps to get close enough.

“Right cuz all you wanna do is TALK! It’s like you’re just stuck in your head with your own little wikipedia page and all you CAN do is talk.” Rick’s voice oscillated between revolt from her sympathy and a dull lack of grit. “Well you know what Beth, I’m sick of it. I’m sick of this shitty town, the fucking ISA and just everything.” he swung his hand and the bottle, gesturing at the eerie emptiness of the damp corner he was in.

The creepiness lingering in the air was finally starting to bother Beth and so were his words. She couldn’t figure out what was really bothering him and she knew guessing wouldn’t help so she let him keep screaming.

“When are you gonna realize that none of the heroics really matters!” Rick wildly takes a swig from the bottle and reiterates his point, “WE’RE NOT SUPERHEROES BETH,” his voice quiets as he looks directly into her eyes, “ and we never were, we get our asses kicked almost every fight so when are we gonna realize that some fights are not worth fighting?”

“Rick, the JSA is doing a lot of good by fighting the bad guys,” she kept the sympathetic tone and tried to understand what he was really telling her.  
“Not much of a fight if one side ends up dead”

“I know we’re strong enough to beat the other side and we are not the old JSA, we're new and improved.”

“Oh yeah? How fucking so Beth? We have the same powers, we have the same enemy and the same foolish hope that people change when they clearly don’t”  
Those trifling details made Beth realize the pain he was feeling had nothing to do with the ISA or them, it was about the one monster he was facing that the others would never have to. She knew the hostility in his voice was no longer meant for her, it never was so she let the sympathy take over.

“This isn’t about the JSA or the ISA, is it Rick?” she was speaking kindly and directly to the scared boy under the surface. 

His only response was a sarcastic bittersweet chuckle and another sip from the bottle. Rick finally let it slip through his fingers and let the shattering noise of the bottle break down his defences. The pain in his heart finally settled in. The dark circles under his watery eyes and the ugly truth was starting to haunt him. He wasn’t afraid of the ISA, he was afraid of dragging Beth into the issues with his uncle. Sure, when Courtney saw him daydrink in some isolated corner of town he didn’t care, he just walked away but this wasn’t Courtney. He knew Beth wouldn’t accept whatever bullshit answers he gave her so she would back off. He couldn’t drink himself into briefly avoiding a confrontation with his inner demons without Beth Chapel intervening. 

Rick sluggishly walks to the wall of the diner and stoops to the ground. Sitting on the cold damp ground with his hands clutching his knees, he looks over at Beth. Sweet and innocent Beth was the only one to figure out what was really bothering him. 

She reluctantly walked towards him, still aware of the anger festering in his head. The invisible barrier he built between them had long fallen so she felt okay crouching down and falling next to him. Beth breaks the silence with a softly serious voice, “I had no idea you were hurting like this, I would’ve helped or let an adult know. Rick, you don’t deserve to be stuck with that jerk.”

He doesn’t really respond, just slouches a bit and lets his tears fall down his face. The horrifying concept of letting anyone see beneath his surface was becoming much more comforting now that there was someone who genuinely saw who he was. Rick didn’t know how to say what he wanted to say since no one has ever gotten this close. He loses control over his emotions too often to let anyone behind the dark curtains surrounding his heart. 

In a sudden motion, she twists her body towards his and wraps her arms around him. Rick’s upper body faces her and he lets his head fall into the crevice of her neck. His tears stained the stripes of her sweater as she held him tightly. In this moment of stillness, he takes in the sweetness of her presence and just lets the world go.  
In this moment, he doesn’t give a fuck about his uncle, he doesn’t give a fuck about the ISA and he doesn’t give a fuck about any place other than the solace he found in her voice. He just breathes in the feeling of her hands gently curling through his hair as he weaves his hand around her waist.

“You'll see it too, yanno the part of yourself that I see. Rick, I know that there’s good in your heart. I’ve seen it before, in the way you care about us.” Beth softens her tone and she continues, “remember that night courtney ended up in the hospital and YOU were the one ready to bust down Cindy Burman’s door? It’s cause you care, you let yourself care, so please don’t let that part of you go.” She glides her hand in a comforting motion over his arm and lets him breathe in the quiet fall breeze.

Beth sees the pain in his dark circles, she sees the apprehension in his dull green eyes. What she doesn’t see is how someone so deserving of love can seriously believe that he doesn’t deserve any. She wants to let him know he deserves all the love she can give but she needs him to know he should love himself first. And maybe the one thing she can teach him is to believe that he can’t hide in the shadows of spite and revenge. All she wants, in this moment, is to let him know that she will be there for all his battles, even if she’s just there to cheer him on from the sidelines.

〜•〜 〜•〜 〜•〜

The walk to her house would’ve been easier and faster if Rick could actually walk properly. He had toppled over a few times and tripped on his own feet almost every passing minute. 

Rick stumbled around in the doorway until Beth managed to get her shoes off and lock the front door. He had his arm around her shoulder as she held him steady towards the stairs. They trek up the stairs and into her neatly polished room. 

Scented candles and little origami hearts perfectly cluttered her desk. Purple flowers and small pillows arranged carefully on her bay window gave the room a chipper personality like Beth’s. The room felt like a fantasy book cover, neatly illustrated and catered to the kindest soul to walk the earth. Beth slides out from under his arm and helps him lie down on the bed. 

Beth swings the doors of her closet open and grabs him a huge yellow hoodie and some sweats. His clothes reek of dark alleys and cheap rum but the ones she tossed at him, smell just like the fresh linens in her room. 

“I got you some stuff so you don’t have to sleep in those uncomfortable jeans,” her voice had the same kindness it did during the day. 

“Uh you sure these will fit?” Rick hesitatingly said as he sat up and let his back stay flat against her headboard. 

“Of course they will, silly! Just go try them on and if they don’t then uh we can find something else!” 

He toddled back to her empty room in the clothes she insisted he wear to bed and let his back fall flat against the mattress. The hoodie was a few shades too bright and her sweatpants stopped above his ankles. Small clothing adjustments aside, he felt warmer in these clothes. He felt safer in her simple hoodie than he had in his grimy protective attire.

“Hey, I put some tea on the stove while you were gone! Chuck helped me find some chamomile to help with the uh headaches,” she said as she stepped into the doorway. That familiar optimism in her voice made him feel a little better about the shitty situation he got himself into. Even thinking about the shitty position he put her in tonight makes him feel terrible. He soon determined that he was no longer deserving of Beth's kindness or hospitality, yet here she was offering him clothes that snuggly fit him, waiting for tea she made to help calm his drunken nerves or even spend the night to sleep off his mistakes. 

The rest of the night carried on as Beth sat up on her bed and Rick lying down beside her. Her bedside table held the long forgotten teacups and the air was stale from the soundless comfort they found in each other’s warmth. Beth held onto his hand as he rested his head close to her chest. She stroked her other hand through his loosely waved hair and quietly hummed along to a catchy song Chuck played for her earlier. 

Their legs tangled on the bed over the past few minutes, it was the sort of comfort Rick never knew he deserved. The lamp sitting beside Beth on the table made it easier for Rick to see how focused she looked. She wasn’t doing anything really, just moving her hand on his arm to comfort him. Few more moments of silence went by and in the classic Beth Chapel vocals he’s grown to love, he hears her hum the tune to an oddly familiar 90’s tune she probably stole from her parents’ dance playlist or those fancy goggles she chats with.  
Slow bursts of sunlight starts to bleed in through her curtains. Beth still sat comfortably against her headboard, holding Rick and letting him find serenity in their little bubble. He felt her hand fall into the nice rhythm of shifting through his hair. 

Someday, he will hold better cards where all his luck won’t bleed out. And maybe one of these days he’ll learn to love himself the way Beth loves him. Beth made him feel balanced in the short amount of time they knew each other. Beth could blindly read him and all the tragic words he etched into his own brain. Beth was in the better part of every beat in his heart. Beth always knew the person he locked away, hidden under the surface. She saw the part of him he couldn’t see in himself, maybe someday he will but not now, not yet.


End file.
